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The NHL didn’t waste any time trying to get their message across to the fans as the lockout officially begun.

After the players were locked out when the clock struck midnight Sunday with no new collective bargaining agreement in place, the league posted a message on its website at 9 a.m. Sunday explaining why there is no deal with the NHLPA.

“Despite the expiration of the (CBA), the (NHL) has been, and remains, committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA that is fair to the Players and to the 30 NHL teams,” wrote the league.

“Thanks to the conditions fostered by seven seasons under the previous CBA, competitive balance has created arguably the most meaningful regular season in pro sports; a different team has won the Stanley Cup every year; fans and sponsors have agreed the game is at its best, and the league has generated remarkable growth and momentum.”

The league, which removed the sale of all merchandise that had players names on the back from its websites, said a new deal has to have a better split of revenues for clubs to be successful.

“While our last CBA negotiation resulted in a seismic change in the league’s economic system, and produced corresponding on-ice benefits, our current negotiation is focused on a fairer and more sustainable division of revenues with the players _ as well as other necessary adjustments consistent with the objectives of the economic system we developed jointly with the (NHLPA) seven years ago. Those adjustments are attainable through sensible, focused negotiation - not through rhetoric,” added the statement.

“This is a time of year for all attention to be focused on the ice, not on a meeting room. The league, the clubs and the players all have a stake in resolving our bargaining issues appropriately and getting the puck dropped as soon as possible. We owe it to each other, to the game and, most of all, to the fans.”

It didn’t take long for players to start finding jobs elsewhere.

Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Sergei Gonchar (Ottawa), Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit) and Jaromir Jagr (Dallas) were among several players that signed in Russia in the wee hours of Saturday morning.